Husband Took His Mistress to a Business Meeting — But the New CEO Walked In…
He paused at the door, looking back at his wife. She stood with her back to him, staring out the window at the sprawling Chicago skyline. For a fleeting moment, she seemed like a stranger in their home.
“Don’t wait up,” he said, the words a familiar refrain. “It’s going to be a long day of meetings followed by a celebratory dinner.”
“Oh, I won’t,” Catherine replied, her voice soft but clear. “I have a very busy day myself. You have no idea.”
He chuckled, a short, condescending sound.
“Right. Shopping at Neiman Marcus or planning another fundraiser? Try not to strain yourself.”
He closed the door behind him, the solid thud sealing him out of her world and her into the gilded cage he had so carefully constructed. He walked to the elevator, a triumphant smile on his face, picturing Tiffany waiting for him in the lobby, her eyes bright with admiration and something more.
He felt powerful, untouchable, the king of his castle.
Meanwhile, Catherine remained at the window, watching her husband’s black sedan pull away from the curb forty floors below. She took a deep breath, the first truly relaxed one she’d taken all morning. She pulled the band from her hair, letting it fall around her shoulders.
She walked over to the sleek, minimalist coffee table and picked up a tablet. With a few taps, she pulled up a file. It was the complete acquisition portfolio of Innovate Dynamics, the company Marcus worked for, by her company, Vanguard Holdings.
She scrolled through the roster until she landed on his name: Marcus Thorn, Vice President of Marketing. A small, cold smile touched her lips.
“Enjoy your celebration, Marcus,” she whispered to the empty, opulent room. “It’s the last one you’ll be having for a very long time.”
She then swiped to her calendar. Her first appointment at 10:00 AM was labeled in bold letters: Board Meeting: Introduction to Innovate Dynamics Senior Staff.
The leather seats of Marcus’s Mercedes were the color of rich cream, a stark contrast to the vibrant red of Tiffany Hayes’s dress. The dress was a strategic choice: bold enough to be memorable, yet tailored enough to scream ambition rather than desperation.
She had spent two hours getting ready, every strand of her honey-blonde hair lacquered into a perfect sleek sheet.
“Are you nervous?” she asked, her voice a purr.
She ran a perfectly manicured finger along the dashboard.
“You don’t seem nervous at all. You seem like a god.”
Marcus laughed, a deep, confident sound that filled the car.
“Nervous? Tiffany, nervousness is for the unprepared. We’ve been over this presentation a hundred times. The numbers are solid. My strategy is revolutionary. This new CEO, whoever he is, will have no choice but to be impressed.”
He emphasized the «he,» a casual assumption based on the aggressive acquisition tactics Vanguard Holdings was known for.
“And me?” she asked, turning in her seat to face him fully. “Will they be impressed with me?”
“They’ll see a sharp, dedicated analyst who supports her Vice President,” he said, reaching over to place a hand on her knee.
He gave it a possessive squeeze.
“Just stick to the script. Let me do the talking unless I direct a question to you. Answer concisely. Look smart. That’s all you need to do. This is my show.”
Tiffany’s smile tightened almost imperceptibly. She craved the spotlight, but she understood the hierarchy. For now, she was his accessory, the brilliant but subordinate mind who helped the great Marcus Thorne achieve his destiny.
Her time would come. She believed his promises: that once he was promoted, he would create a new Director position just for her, and that he would finally, finally leave his boring, passionless wife.
“Catherine didn’t seem to mind you taking me?” she probed, testing the waters as she often did. “Doesn’t she ever get suspicious?”
Marcus scoffed, his eyes fixed on the traffic ahead.
“Kate? She stopped paying attention a decade ago. She lives in her own little world of charity benefits and book clubs. I doubt she even remembers your name. To her, you’re just some intern I’m magnanimously giving a career boost. It’s the perfect cover.”
The perfect cover. The phrase stung Tiffany more than she let on. She wasn’t a cover. She was the future. She was the one who understood his ambition, who matched his drive.
Catherine was a relic, a ghost from a past life he hadn’t yet managed to shed.
“She just seemed so… placid,” Tiffany mused. “When I saw her at the company holiday party, she barely spoke. She just stood there smiling. It was kind of sad.”
“It’s not sad, it’s comfortable,” Marcus corrected. “She has everything a woman could want without having to lift a finger. I gave her that. She should be grateful.”
He truly believed it. His guilt over the affair was a tiny, shriveled thing, easily overshadowed by his sense of magnanimity. He was providing for two women; in his mind, he was a modern-day patriarch.
They soon left the congested city streets behind, turning onto the private access road that led to the Vanguard Holdings corporate tower. The building was a spear of smoked glass and obsidian steel piercing the Chicago sky. It was a statement of raw, unapologetic power, dwarfing the more modest headquarters of Innovate Dynamics.
As Marcus pulled into the reserved underground parking spot, a valet rushing to open their doors, Tiffany felt a genuine thrill of awe. This was the big leagues. This was where fortunes were made and empires were forged.
“Okay,” Marcus said, turning to her before they stepped out.
He looked her up and down, his eyes lingering on the tight fit of her dress.
“You look perfect. Remember the plan. We’re a team, but I’m the captain. Follow my lead, and by tonight, we’ll be celebrating your future boss’s promotion to Senior Vice President.”
He sealed the promise with a quick, hard kiss that tasted of coffee and ambition.
They rode the silent high-speed elevator to the sixtieth floor, the penthouse level. The doors opened not into a reception area, but directly into a vast, minimalist foyer with a panoramic view of Lake Michigan. The air was cool and smelled faintly of ozone and money.
A severe-looking woman with a sharp haircut and a tablet greeted them.
“Mr. Thorne, Ms. Hayes, welcome to Vanguard. The board is gathering. Please follow me.”
She led them down a hallway lined with abstract art that probably cost more than Marcus’s car. Every person they passed was impeccably dressed, moving with a quiet urgency. The atmosphere was electric, a stark contrast to the often complacent culture at Innovate Dynamics.
Marcus felt his own confidence swell. He belonged here. This was his natural habitat. He glanced at Tiffany, who was trying her best to look composed, but whose wide eyes gave away her awe. He gave her a reassuring wink. He was her guide in this rarefied world, her benefactor.
The assistant stopped before a pair of towering, frosted glass doors.
“They are ready for you. Mr. Sterling is already inside.”
Richard Sterling was the outgoing CEO of Innovate Dynamics, a man in his late sixties who was happy to take his golden parachute and retire to Florida. He was a formality, a bridge between the old and the new. The real power—the person Marcus had to conquer—was waiting on the other side of those doors.
Marcus smoothed his suit jacket, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open, stepping into the brightest, most intimidating boardroom he had ever seen. And into the beginning of his end.
The boardroom at Vanguard Holdings was less a room and more a theater for corporate warfare. One entire wall was a seamless pane of glass, offering a godlike view of the city below. The table was a single, colossal slab of polished granite, so dark it seemed to absorb the light.
Seated around it were a dozen people who radiated an aura of calm, lethal competence. These were the Vanguard executives. At the head of the table sat Richard Sterling, looking more like a guest than a host.
Marcus scanned the faces. There was the CFO, a stern-looking man in his fifties; the Head of Legal, a woman with sharp, intelligent eyes; and several other VPs he recognized from industry publications. They were the sharks, and he was here to prove he was one of them.
“Marcus, good of you to join us,” Richard Sterling said, his voice a little too loud in the hushed room. “Everyone, this is Marcus Thorne, our VP of Marketing at Innovate Dynamics, and his analyst, Tiffany Hayes.”
Nods were exchanged, cool and appraising. Marcus felt a dozen pairs of eyes sizing him up, and he met them with his most charming, confident smile. He and Tiffany took the two empty seats opposite the main board members.
He placed his sleek laptop and a leather-bound folio on the table, the movements economical and self-assured. David Chen, his internal rival and the VP of Operations, was seated a few chairs down. David gave him a tight, professional nod.
Marcus saw the flicker of jealousy in David’s eyes and savored it. David had come alone. Marcus, on the other hand, had brought his star protégé, a visual testament to his leadership and eye for talent.
“We’re just waiting for our new CEO to join us,” the Head of Legal, a woman named Jessica Miller, stated. Her voice was crisp and brooked no argument. “She is concluding a call with our Tokyo office. She…”
The word registered in Marcus’s mind with a flicker of surprise. He had automatically assumed the new chief would be a man. A woman CEO in this aggressive tech acquisition space was rare.
He mentally recalibrated. This was even better. In his experience, he was excellent at charming powerful women, at playing the part of the indispensable, brilliant male subordinate.
To fill the silence, Richard Sterling began making pleasantries.
“Marcus has been with Innovate for twelve years, a real pillar of the company. His marketing strategies were key to our growth in the early 2010s.”
It was faint praise, referencing past glories. Marcus felt a prickle of annoyance. He was about to unveil the future, not rehash the past. He directed a charming smile towards Jessica Miller.
“Richard is too kind. The past is prologue. I’m far more excited to discuss the next five years. We’re on the cusp of penetrating the South American market in a way no one has anticipated.”
